Vikings: Social Life
Culture The image of wild-haired, dirty savages sometimes associated with the Vikings in popular culture is a distorted picture of reality. Viking tendencies were often misreported, and the work of Adam of Bremen, among others, told largely disputable tales of Viking savagery and uncleanliness. Vikings were known for being brutal and barbaric and because of that often when they came to villages they were offered all loot without a fight. They were also accused of being "unclean" even if they were the ones that used soap unlike many other people at that time. Language Vikings spoke in old Norse, Icelandic is extremely alike since people on Iceland verse isolated and later strived towards keeping the language the same. Runes were used in Vikings writing system, they were based upon sounds. What they wrote down was most often very short and they wrote mainly on wood which eventually rots, although they sometimes wrote on bones and stones and that's how we have knowledge about their writing system. Vikings never wrote down their own history except occasional runestones(They are usually in memory of the dead, though not necessarily placed at graves). Communities they encountered (Christian and Islamic) on they voyages were the ones that wrote down who Vikings were. When Vikings passed on their own history they passed it orally and it was carried on by skalds. Skald were Scandinavian bards that recited epic poems (sagas), retold the stories about famous and brave Vikings, Kings and lords. Some of the sagas were eventually written down in later eras for example lcelandic sagas. Burial The burial practices of the Vikings varied a lot, from dug graves in the ground, to tumuli, sometimes even ship burials. Most funerals took place at sea it involved either cremation or burial depending on local customs. In today's Sweden, cremations were predominant, in Denmark burial was more common and in Norway both were common. Items that were buried together with the dead give us an idea about what was considered important to have in the afterlife..? Sports Vikings were extremely interested in sports. They were very popular especially if they involved weapons training and developing combat skills. It included spear and stone throwing, building and testing physical strength through wrestling, fist fighting and stone lifting. Even mountain climbing was a popular sport, in the regions that had mountains. Swimming was also popular. Agility and balance were built and tested by running and jumping for sport, and there is mention of a sport that involved jumping from oar to oar on the outside of a ship's railing as it was being rowed. Housing The vikings did not live in big and extravagant cities filled with loads of riches that they had plundered, they didn't even live in towns, in fact, the closest thing to a village during this age was a couple of farms built close to eachother. Even though there are stories about the strong vikings gathering riches, everyone still lived on farms. The only way to get food during this age was to either take from others, or more commonly, make your own. Even the richest families were not excluded, they simply had bigger farms with servants working for them instead of working on their own. The most succesful almost always lived high up, this was to be able to spot and then deal with any enemies who wanted to take the resources gathered by those who lived on the farm. Living close by water, preferably running water, was crucial to survival since there was no other way to get water, this was also why there was a lot of people drinking wine, both because it tastes great but also to save water. Longhouses Every viking settlement had one special building, the longhouse. Longhouses was the main body of the farm, everything was basen around it, in many farms the longhouse was the only building they had while richer families had extra buildings as stabiles or storages connected to the longhouse. The longhouse itself was usually 5 to 7 meters wide and 15 to 75 meters long, depending on how rich you were. Long houses were typically made of wood with stone foundations or, if the area lacked trees like many areas of Iceland, turf. There was typically a fireplace in the middle of the house were you cooked food and kept warm since there were not a lot of insulation during this time. There were no windows at all so the only light inside came from the fire if it was lit or from the smoke hole in the roof if it was open. The smoke hole was in the roof and was there to make sure that the longhouse did not fill up with smoke from the fire. Everything was done in one big room so there were not a lot of privacy, the beds were there, it's where the food was made and where you made all your clothes and stored all your items. If there were no extensions to the longhouse it was also where the animals were kept. Quite often people had to sleep right next to the animals on the farm. Family Vikings lived in large family groups. Children, parents and grandparents lived together. When the eldest son took over the farm, he became head of the family and responsible for everyone's welfare. His major responsibility was to provide the family with food and his wife, the lady of the house, was responsible for the household. Women in the family took care of the kids, made the family's garments. women on the farm also milked the cows and made cheese They were also expected to have knowledge of herbs in order to prepare medicine for the sick and wounded. When the men went off on trading trips, hunting or war, it was the women who took care of the whole farm. In rich families, they had slaves and servants who helped. Viking children did not go to school. They helped their parents at work, and learned Viking history, religion and law from spoken stories and songs, not from books. By 15 or 16 they were seen as adults. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/family_life/ Girls married off when they were between the age of 12 and 16 years and were expected to then be able to manage a household. It was the father of the girl who choose the man his daughter would marry. The girl herself, had no say in the matter. On the smaller farms , the division between women's and men's work were less strict. Without servants and slaves, all family members contribute as best in order for the family to be able to survive in the harsh Scandinavian climate. Entertainment We learned from Viking sagas and grave goods that Vikings would entertain themselves with bloody physical games, drinking games and board games.Hnefatafl was one of the board games that was found in many of viking grave goods and sagas, the rules for the game are unknown. The Vikings would entertain themselves with drinking games, the rules were simple they had woman/man teams and each team had to drink while being drunk they had to rhyme and insult each other, the team that could drink the most drinks and not show the effect of alcohol wins.There also had competitions in wrestling, archery, stone throwing and sword play. Children played ball and engaged in child versions of adult games. Their parents would even carve them wooden dolls to play with, or give them child sized replicas of weapons. Art & music The Vikings have left some evidence of music that has been found, such as drawings and descriptions of an instruments or the instruments itself.instruments weren't that easily found, the instruments that have been found are the harp, bone flute and a set of wooden pan pipes and a few more instruments. Vikings created Art from extraordinary ornaments of everyday objects. Many of the daily objects they used were made with a very high skilled art style. It is known that there have been 6 different art styles, each art style lasted only for a period of time then a new one would replace it. Oseberg: the Oseberg style was used in the early 9th century. The art style is named after the Oseberg ship discovered in burial mound at the Oseberg farm in Vestfold county, Norway. This style was mostly carvings on wood, the main feature it had was the gripping beast motif and sinuous animal forms. Borre: this art style was well known from the end of 9th century until the middle of the 10th century. It was also named after a ship burial in Borre, Norway. This style is known for having pretzel shaped, gripping paws and mask head like animals, it is also known to be only influenced by Norse art styles. Jelling: the Jelling style is an animal art style during the 10th century. The animals are usually intertwined and s-shaped. Mammen: this style was used in the last half of the 10th century. Featuring lions, bird motifs, Serpents and foliate patterns. Ringerike: this style flourished in the first half of the 10th century. It also includes lion like beasts with tightly clustered tendrils forming their tails. Urnes: this is the last Norse art style and it was used from the middle of 11th century until the 12th century. the animals in this art style would look snake like and very curvy looping around. Social Classes There were three main social classes in the Norse society, the Jarls, the Karls and the þrælar. The Jarls were basically the noblemen, they had followers, large estates and were very wealthy, compared to the Karls and the þrælar. The task of the Jarl was to uphold the honor of his followers, and to make them prosper. If he did not, he would be overthrown, as the Jarls power only went as far as the goodwill of his followers. Generally the son of the previous Jarl would also become the next one, but the Karls could become Jarls if they gained enough wealth and fame. The positions were not as rigid as in other cultures, a Karl could easily become a þræll, or a Jarl, as previously stated. The Karls were the commoners, the majority of the citizens. They owned land and had a very large range of professions; blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers, etc. Usually the Karls lived together in clusters of longhouses, supplemented by barns and workshops. The þrælar were the slaves and bondsmen, often aquired through various raids. Another way to become one was to be in someone's debt, if you could not pay it, you would be their slave until the debt was paid. Becoming a þræll was also a sentence gotten by theft: if you were caught, you would become the slave of the one you tried to steal from. Jarls In different Norse lands, there were different systems for social structures. For example, in Iceland, one country that had a very literary culture (which means there is a lot of information about them), they had no Jarls at all. Despite the fact that they had no use for Jarls at home, many travelled to other Norse countries to become hirðmaðr, a kind of inner circle member of a Jarl. Jarls were, contrary to other countries, not considered to be sacred, or godly in any way, like kings might be. They were merely viewed as powerful and able men, the concept of a regal king was something that was very strange to them. "Dudo of St. Quentin records an encounter between a party of Danes and King Charles of the Frankish kingdom. In the presence of the king, the Danes were ordered to show their submission by kissing the foot of the king. The leader of the Danes refused. One of his followers complied. But, rather than kneeling to kiss the foot of King Charles, the Dane stood, grabbed the king's foot, and lifted it up to the level of the Dane's own head, dragging the king out of his seat and onto the floor. With the king held upside-down, the Dane kissed the foot." http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/social_classes.htm The task of a Jarl was to uphold the honor of his followers, and to make them prosper. To do this they were often required to be very generous with gifts, food, drink and weapons, he also had to be revered by his followers, to be seen as a great man, otherwise they would not follow him. There were several qualities that was associated with the position of a Jarl, for example being a good leader, being inspirational, a great warrior (since the Jarl had to fight alongside his men) and a good public speaker, among other things. Karls The Karls, or free men, had an entire social structure within their selves. Highest of the free men were the goði, the local cheiftain who might also be the priest for the pagan religion, who had a 'special relationship with the gods'. Much like the Jarls, the goði also had to keep the favor of their people, as the position was voluntary. They could easily be put out of power, and a new goði would be chosen, since every freeman had to choose a goði to support. Poets were held in similiar regard as royalty since there were not many written works, and all the culture were passed down orally, from generation to generation. Next in order were the land-owning farmers, who supported the goði and were supported by them in turn. Some farmers were obviously more prominent than others, depending on family connections, their size and wealth of their farms, how many supporters they had, etc. These farmers enjoyed freedom of speech and other liberties that were not present outside the Norse lands at this time, they could bear arms, have a say in public affairs and 'enjoy the full benefit of the law'. These privileges were later lost along with the Norse era, "as the same feudalizing forces that burdened continental Europe also burdened the Norse lands." Merchants were held in similiar regard as the land-owning farmers. There was not enough farmable land for everyone though, most people did not own any land at all. In this group there were the farmhands, who helped out the farmers with their chores in exchange for living space and food, and the servant-women, who handled the 'womanly' chores around the farms, like cleaning and cooking. In lands outside of Iceland, there were families who worked as tenants, taking care of a farm for someone else, and of course paying rent for it. Fishermen were also held to the same status as these people. Slaves Slaves were, predictably, completely disregarded as people. The opinion of them were very low, they were considered cowards, pitiful, and foul in general. They had no say in anything and the only way they were even connected was through their masters. Nothing could be inherited or leaved for your children. As soon as they were considered unable to continue working, wether due to disease, age, injury, or otherwise, they were killed. Despite all this however, they had a few rights. They could techinically buy property, and if they saved up enough money, they could buy their own freedom. Slaves were permitted to marry, and also exact vengence upon any interferance with their wives. Freed slaves were considered to be free men, even if their status was low (though still classed above paupers and vagrants). If a childless former slave died, then their inheritance would be reverted back to their former master. As the vikings had a very honor-bound society, there was no honor in being a former slave, you were then tainted forever.